


coming home

by blackjacktheboss



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackjacktheboss/pseuds/blackjacktheboss
Summary: basically I listened to 'tis the damn season on a loop and just had a lot of feelings and that led me to this.... haven't really edited so forgive me for any typos or discrepancies lol
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 27
Kudos: 337





	coming home

Coming home has never really been a happy thing for Annabeth. It is fraught with anxiety and resentment and anger, and a million other emotions she might be able to name if she could bring herself to call the number on the back of the card for the therapist Piper had recommended months ago. Instead, she sits in the passenger seat of her dad’s gold sedan watching as ghosts of her childhood and adolescence dance along the streets of her hometown. 

“The boys haven’t stopped talking about you for weeks,” Frederick says, speaking for the first time since picking Annabeth up from the airport as they turn onto their street. 

“I bet they’ve gotten tall since last summer,” she answers without turning away from the window. 

She can picture the slow nod of her father’s head. “Indeed,” he replies. 

She sighs and wonders for the millionth time in her life what Frederick had been like in college. Surely he hadn’t come out of the womb as the dry, history obsessed academic she has always known him to be. And yet, no matter how much she stretches her imagination, any image of Frederick Chase she creates always snaps right back to the man who sits beside her; he is nothing more than a history book in a sweater vest masquerading as a man. 

Annabeth may never understand what drew her mother to him, because it certainly wasn’t anything like charisma or a sense of humor, but as he pulls into the driveway of his mid-century colonial home, which is lit up by meticulously placed white lights along its trim, it is all too easy for her to understand why her mom had run away to Greece as soon as she got the chance. 

The street is completely quiet as they exit the car, and Annabeth looks up at the house that has never been a home to her, feeling as though the air around her becomes heavier. With a deep breath, she follows Frederick inside and as the door closes behind her, she tries to convince herself that coming back this year was a good idea. 

The sounds of heavy footsteps crashing down the stairs pulls Annabeth from her thoughts and she turns around just in time to see two blurs launch themselves towards her. 

“ANNABETH!” her brothers shout in unison, enveloping her in a twin bear hug. 

Annabeth laughs as she awkwardly hugs them back, unsure where one begins and the other ends. “Hi boys.” 

“I’m going to go drop your bags in your room,” Frederick says, excusing himself as he heads up to the second floor. 

“We missed you,” Bobby announces as he pulls away. 

“A lot,” Matty says and he hugs her tighter in a solo hug. 

Annabeth squeezes Matt back with one arm and pinches Bobby’s cheek with her other hand. “I missed you guys a lot, too. You’re so big!” 

“Kids grow a lot in a year and a half, don’t they?” 

Annabeth looks up to see the always vaguely disapproving face of her stepmother, who stands on the bottom stair with her hands resting on the banister. 

She peels her coat off and hangs it on the coat rack to her left. “Sure do.”

The women stare at each other for what feels like forever, but thank god for the twins. 

“Annabeth, you  _ gotta  _ check out this plane I designed,” Bobby announces, grabbing Annabeth’s hand and pulling her towards the stairs. 

“Yeah, dad let us turn our old playroom into a studio so we’ve got all kinds of stuff to show you, you’re gonna love it,” Matty adds. 

“Will you be hungry for anything?” her stepmom asks as Annabeth passes her on the stairs. 

“No, thank you,” Annabeth replies, and continues to follow her brothers. 

If the walls of this house could talk, they would tell stories all about how Annabeth would have killed to have an adult around who really listened to her, which is why she sits at full attention, doing her best to pay attention to every painstaking detail her brothers care to explain to her. She asks follow up questions and gives the appropriate  _ oohs _ and  _ ahhs _ , and after what must be a solid forty-five minutes, their mom knocks lightly on the door. 

“Boys, time to get ready for bed,” she announces. “You’ve got gift wrapping duty in the morning.” 

The boys groan in unison, grumbling about what a stupid idea it was to stay in Boy Scouts, but they comply nonetheless. Annabeth gives them each a hug goodnight and smiles as she watches them disappear into their rooms which sit opposite each other. 

“Will you be going to bed soon?” her stepmom asks, turning around to face her. 

Annabeth crosses her arms and looks down. “Actually, Katie’s gonna pick me up in a bit.” 

“I see,” her stepmom answers in a measured tone. “Well please be quiet when you come back. Like I said, the boys have to be up early.” 

Annabeth nods, stepping backwards to head towards her room. “Will do.” 

The women again make tense eye contact before turning away from each other and heading to their respective rooms. Annabeth runs her hand along the pale yellow wallpaper as she goes, the vibration of nostalgia beginning to hum through her body. 

She holds her breath as she approaches the door of her childhood bedroom, her stomach dropping slightly as she spots a patch of the light purple flowers that paint the walls. Pushing through the door, she rushes to the bed and throws herself onto it to stare up at the glow-in-the-dark star covered ceiling. It had taken her less than ten minutes to shoplift the pack of adhesive decorations from the local craft store, and just under two hours stick them all over the ceiling, but none of that mattered when it took her stepmom all of thirty seconds to notice them and ground Annabeth for defacing her family’s home. Annabeth rolls her eyes at the memory, then, feeling guilty for a moment, tells herself to find some time to stop by Miss Minerva’s shop to pay her the ten dollars she owes her. 

“Coming home was a bad idea,” she says to herself as she notices a patch of missing wallpaper from where she tore it down after a particularly bad fight with her stepmom. 

Annabeth’s phone buzzes, mercifully saving her from delving any deeper into that particular memory and she smiles as she reads her old friend’s text. 

> **Katie: Get your hot ass outside, Chase. We’ve got townies to seduce.**
> 
> **Annabeth: be right out**

Annabeth gives herself a once over in the mirror that has leaned against her wall since the ninth grade, deciding the blue plaid button up and black jeans she’s been wearing since she rolled out of bed this morning are more than enough to see a bunch of old classmates that she hasn’t talked to since graduation. As she walks out of her room, she pulls her hair into a ponytail, stopping abruptly so as to avoid walking right into her dad who is exiting his study. 

“Oh,” he says, as if he’s surprised to see her. “Hello.” 

“Hi,” she says plainly. “I’m going out.” 

Frederick just nods and holds a hand out, urging Annabeth to continue down the hallway first. She rushes past him, and hurries down the stairs, quickly reaching for her coat as she walks out the front door. 

A smile spreads across her face as she spots Katie’s green jeep idling in front of the driveway. It is a sight that kept her sane through her high school years, and even seeing it now fills Annabeth with a sense of freedom that she can’t fully describe. 

“Damn, baby, you look good,” Katie says teasingly as Annabeth climbs into the car. 

“No, baby, you look good,” Annabeth shoots back as she leans in to hug her friend despite the awkward angle. “So where we goin’ tonight?” 

Katie wiggles her shoulders playfully. “As if you even have to ask.” 

* * *

The Grapevine is the best trashy bar that Satyr Glen has to offer. For generations, it has been the premiere location for locals to gather year-round and run into people they never wanted to see again while being far too intoxicated. 

The sidewalk outside the bar is crowded with people enjoying a cigarette as music blasting from inside the bar spills out onto the street. Annabeth scrunches her nose as she follows Katie through the thin clouds of smoke, letting her friend take her hand to lead her through the throngs of people gathered inside. They eventually make it to a booth near the back of the bar where Katie’s boyfriend, Travis, sits with a group of people who Annabeth recognizes from their lunch table in the high school cafeteria. 

“Annabeth!” Travis shouts, throwing his hands up in the air. He stands to greet her, placing a quick kiss to her cheek. “I didn’t believe Katie when she said you were coming out tonight.” 

“I told him you were serious this time,” Katie says as she takes a sip of Travis’s beer. “But he didn’t wanna get his hopes up.” 

Annabeth rolls her eyes and waves her hands in a  _ come here _ motion. “Yeah, yeah, let’s hear it then.” 

“Did New York send you back for being too surly?” Connor, Travis’s younger brother, asks. 

“My money’s on her being here for an alibi,” Clarisse shouts across the table. 

“Well, I for one am glad she’s here,” Lee says as he walks up to give Annabeth a hug. “It’s good to see you, kid.” 

Annabeth smiles into his shoulder as she squeezes him back. “You too, old man. How’s the music store treating you?” 

Lee shrugs. “Oh you know, renting out violins to fourth graders. Selling acoustic guitars to angsty fifteen year old boys. Living the dream.” 

“I’m very jealous,” Annabeth says. “How about you, Pollux? What are you up to?” 

Pollux makes eye contact with her as he throws back a shot of something, looking surprised that she remembers his name. “Workin at a winery upstate. You?” 

“Architecture firm in New York.” 

“Cool,” he says, before looking over his shoulder at the bar. “I’m getting another shot, anyone want anything?” 

He doesn’t wait for an answer before shoving his way through the crowd, sending the group into a fit of laughter. 

“I see he’s as personable as ever,” Annabeth says. 

“Your twin brother bailing to go work at a big cat rescue in another country will do that to you,” Connor replies. 

In no time at all, Pollux returns with a tray full of tequila shots for the table, holding his glass up to call for a toast. “Here’s to Satry Glen, and coming home for the holidays unlike my piece of shit brother who can’t be bothered!” 

“Cheers!” the group calls in unison, everyone exchanging wary glances as their friend does three shots in a row. 

Travis looks at Annabeth and nods over to an unattended pool table. “You still a shark?” 

“You think just cause I moved to the city, I’d forget how to swim?” she asks in a patronizing tone. 

“Connor,” Travis calls, pointing to the pool table. “You and me versus Katie and Annabeth.”

Connor groans. “I’m really not in the mood to get my ass kicked at pool right now.” 

“Oh, I am!” Lee interjects. “I’ll play.” 

“Chump!” Katie teases. 

It takes Annabeth a little over fifteen minutes to leave Travis and Lee feeling dejected at the pool table as they turn on each other, working to place the blame of their collective loss. Katie holds her hand out to the boys and smugly collects twenty dollars from each of them, which she promptly hands to Annabeth. 

“Taking candy from a baby would be more difficult,” Katie says to her boyfriend, adding insult to injury. 

Annabeth can’t help but cackle. “I’m gonna go buy us a round of victory shots,” she says, turning around to head to the bar. 

Before she can take a single step forward, the crowd in front of her suddenly parts like clouds parting to reveal the sun, and none other than Percy Jackson is standing there, looking as good as ever. 

“Percy. Hi,” she says, trying to shake the surprise of seeing him from her bones. 

“Hey, Ivy League,” Percy says, his smile so warm Annabeth forgets for a moment that it’s the middle of winter. 

Travis appears at Percy’s side, throwing an arm over Percy’s shoulder. “PJ! Glad you could make it, man.” 

“Thanks for inviting me,” Percy says with a nod. 

Katie props her head on Annabeth’s shoulder and whispers into her ear. “Told you we were gonna seduce some townies tonight.” 

* * *

It’s nearly three in the morning when Percy pulls up to Annabeth’s house, where all of the Christmas lights have been turned off. Annabeth shakes her head as she notices that even the porch light is out, wondering how long her stepmom had waited after she left to make the house go dark. 

“I see your stepmom is still at it,” Percy says as he stretches to look around Annabeth at the house. “You have to respect her consistency, I guess.” 

Annabeth laughs despite herself. “I guess so. Though I wouldn’t mind too much if she woke up one day and became a different person.” 

“That would definitely be nice,” he agrees. 

Annabeth looks back up at her family’s house and wishes she didn’t have to go back inside. 

“Do you wanna get out of here?” Percy asks, as if reading her mind. “We could… just drive around for a while?” 

Annabeth sighs as her whole body relaxes. “That sounds great.” 

Percy smiles and puts the car in drive. “Great.” 

As they drive through town, Annabeth can’t help but be completely entranced by the way the streetlights illuminate Percy’s perfect profile. She wonders how many women have sat in the passenger seat of Percy Jackson’s truck in the years since she was last here, with their hearts fluttering the same way Annabeth’s is right this second. 

The jealous part of her brain tells her there have been too many to count, but her heart, her hopeful heart which has been inexplicably tied to this boy, now a man, for more than half of her life, tells her that no matter the answer, something about this is different.  _ They  _ are different. 

She exhales, relaxing back into the seat as they pull up to a red light. 

“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asks before she can even consider the implications of what she’s asking. 

Percy looks at her and shakes his head. “No. Do you?” 

Annabeth laughs and shakes her head. “No. No boyfriend either.” 

“Same,” he says with a dry smile. 

“Interesting,” she says flirtatiously. Though she’s not sure she speaks to Percy in any other way. 

“Very,” he agrees, his eyes locked on hers. His fingers drum against the bottom of the steering wheel, and Annabeth feels like her heart beats in time with their rhythm. 

The light above them turns green and Percy looks back at the empty street.

“So,” he says as the truck rumbles back to life beneath them. “Where to?” 

Annabeth bites her lip as she thinks of all the different ways this night can play out and she bites down harder as she admits to herself the only way she wants it to. 

“I think we should go to your place,” she says, banishing all rational thought from her mind. She watches as the corner of Percy’s mouth pulls up into a smirk. 

“Funny,” he says. “That’s exactly what I was thinking too.” 

* * *

Coming home has never really been a happy thing for Annabeth. It is fraught with anxiety and resentment and anger, and a million other emotions she couldn’t name if she tried. 

And yet, as she wakes up in Percy Jackson’s bed with the soft morning light shining against her legs and his even softer skin pressed right against the rest of her, she can’t help but smile. 

“Coming home was a good idea,” she says quietly, almost to herself. 

Percy stirs behind her, and places a soft kiss to the base of her neck. “Coming home to town, or coming home with me?” he asks.

“Yes,” she answers as she stretches, turning in his arms to lay on her back. 

Percy wiggles himself closer to her until his face is in the crook of her neck. “I think it was a good idea too. Just for the record.” 

She places a hand over his where it rests across her waist, and threads her fingers through his. “What do you think life would be life if I had stayed?” 

Percy smiles against her neck. “Hmm… We’d definitely be together.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Mhmm. Might even have a house by now.” 

“Would we be married?” she asks, her thumb running smoothly over his knuckle. 

“Maybe,” he says, placing a kiss to her shoulder. “Maybe we’d be having a kid together.” 

Annabeth leans her head against his. “That sounds nice.” 

“You’d be miserable,” he says with a laugh, pulling her even closer. 

“How do you know that? I could have been happy here,” she says, and there is an edge of defensiveness in her tone. 

Percy sighs against her, always the dependable shore to the raging ocean of her emotions even after all these years. “No, you couldn’t have been. Not really. Not even if you were with me.” 

Annabeth swallows hard, hoping Percy can’t hear the way her heart cracks in her chest. “Is it enough that I wish I could have been?” 

Percy sits up then, propping his head up so he looks down at her and again, smiles with a warmth that should only exist on a summer day. “You left because you needed to, Annabeth. I understood it back then, and I understand it even more now. Satyr Glen was only ever gonna be your hometown.” There isn’t a single ounce of hurt or bitterness in his voice, and Annabeth wonders how that can be.

“I miss you,” she says as a couple of tears make their way down her face. 

He brings his hand to her face, wiping the tears away with his thumb. “I miss you, too. And part of me wishes I loved you less so I could ask you to stay here with me. But we both know that Annabeth Chase belongs in New York.” 

Annabeth places her hand over Percy’s, keeping it pressed to her face. She feels desperation grip her heart, and she prays that this little piece of home she’s held onto doesn’t dissipate in her hands. “What about Percy Jackson? Where does he belong?” 

Percy seems to hold his breath as a chance at happiness hangs in the space between his lips and hers. “I’ve been trying to figure it out, actually. Got any ideas?” 

Annabeth nods slowly, smiling as her hand moves slowly up Percy’s chest, over his heart, to the side of his neck. She gently pulls him down towards her, and like always, he acquiesces to her request. “I think we can come up with something.” 

His lips brush against her as he speaks. “I was hoping you’d say that.” 


End file.
